Tenten's Time
by Fuji-Satou Natsumi
Summary: Why does it seem that the world I live in is perfect? My best friend. my friends, my crush. Everything but me. and why does it seem that i always mess things up? but oddly enough, things do fall into place eventually, no matter how much of an idiot i am.
1. Chapter 1

I took a deep breath. Or tried to, anyway. It was hard to breathe when I just found my best friend's boyfriend was swapping spit with her little sister. _Holy shit, holy shit, holy SHIT! What do I do? What do I DO? Thinkthinkthinkthink!_ I bit my lip. _I'm so sorry… I am so sorry that I'm gonna ruin your life… but you both ruined mine first, right? _With that in mind, I squeezed my hand to make sure it was still there in my hand, and I raised my hand, pointing my phone to their direction…

Ok, this is not the best intro of me. From this little piece you would probably assume that I'm some psychopath who stalks her best friend's boyfriend for fun. That's not true. I just coincidentally stumbled upon this jerk cheating on my best friend, and I just happened to have my phone in my hand, already on the camera app…

Ok, stop. Before I continue this crazy thing, I have to start at the beginning, with a proper introduction.

My name is Tenten. I am a senior at Leaf Academy, alongside with my three good friends, and my one best friend. (Who will be introduced later on.) I am a halfie. Half Chinese, half Japanese. I have brown hair that I like to keep in two neat buns, and matching color for my eyes. My height is 5'8, and weight is 110 kg and I live and breathe sports. There's just something about sweating that turns me on. And the fact that I love determination and the great feeling of winning helps too.

I will rewind the story to the beginning, starting with the beginning of senior life at Leaf Academy. Let me start by explaining that Leaf is a crazy rich school, with a wheel barrel full of money for the entrance. I'm not rich. So it amazed me that I got accepted there.

It was the first day of school, and I'm walking with my best friend Satou Natsumi (ARGH! I love her name! Natsu means summer, and Mi is beautiful, which perfectly describes her. I'm jealous.) And we're talking about, well, everything.

The thing about Natsumi is that she's the closest to perfect in this world. She's beautiful with her long auburn hair and her green eyes and her lean and muscular body, she's smart with her 195 IQ, and she's strong from all those sports that we play together. (Which is basically, all of them.) But she also loves to sleep in late, and she's tall (5'10) and she wears high heel sometimes to look even more intimidating, and shove her face with food and laugh about it, and she has bad eyesight so she has to wear these glasses sometimes, and to not always be attentive to herself so most of the time she wears mismatch socks or she has lines on her face from sleeping so deeply. But these are the flaws that make her so loveable.

I moved from China to Japan three years ago. But I've known Natsumi longer. Her grandma is Chinese, and she just had a stroke, so Natsumi flew over there to see her well. And I just happened to be the caretaker of her grandma. We talked, (she's fluent in Chinese, and I knew Japanese from my dad.) and became instant friends. When I moved to Japan, I told Natsumi, and she was the person to pick me and my family up, and welcome us with gusto. Luckily, her sister wasn't there.

We were wearing out thick uniforms, which sucked because Konoha is usually steaming hot year round. The standard uniform consists of an undershirt, a vest, a jacket, knee socks, shoes, small tie at the neck, and some heavy skirt. And because I'm me, I wear a pair of shorts under my skirt. Yay me.

"Why do you always look so damn hot in everything?" I groaned. It was part of our routine. I moaned about her hotness, and she denies and punches me.

She rolled her eyes, but she didn't say anything.

I looked at her. "Are you ok?"

She looked back at me, her face full of worry. "Karin."

"Ah." Karin. Her bitchy, younger sister. I always tried to feel for her, what with her awesome older sister. Karin had red hair and red eyes with black rimmed glasses. I don't know if she's trying to be cool with her hair (one side is short and fuzzy, the other is long and smooth.) but she's failing. And she always makes it hard to like her. Bitch.

"_Don't judge her that harshly_." Natsumi told me when I first met Karin. "_She's a good person. You just have to know her better_." I've known her for three years. Where is the improvement?

And as usual, she read my mind. "Karin's Karin. Don't mind her that much."

"She wrote _slut_ on all my jerseys." I defended myself.

"You poured water on her."

"On accident!"

"Tenten, please."

I sighed. "I mean, I get it Natsumi. She's your younger sister. You just naturally have to defend her. But she is a bitch, especially to you." And it's true. There are always messages in the bathrooms and on Natsumi's locker that were about Natsumi that were very inappropriate.

"I've gotten used to it." Natsumi said breezily.

I frowned. I hated how Karin treated Natsumi. I suspect that Karin hates Natsumi because she's cooler, more popular, and the guy that Karin likes probably likes Natsumi. Karin always bitched about her to everyone, and spread hurtful lies about her. And Natsumi always covered for her and acted like it was nothing. "Oh, it's fine." Or "She's got an odd sense of humor, huh?"

I sighed. "What did she do this time?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you worried?"

"Because she did nothing. She's always doing something. Applying another layer of makeup, eating, brushing her hair. Today she just sat there."

"Huh." Karin was always about her looks. So this was strange. "Maybe it's just the nerves settling huh?"

"Maybe…" Natsumi let it trail off, uncertain.

We reached the school within minutes. "Tenten! Natsumi!" Yamanaka Ino ran to us and jumped Natsumi, knowing that I'd probably shove her off immediately.

Ino was literally wrapped around Natsumi. Her legs were around her waist, and her arms around her head. Natsumi was struggling to shove her off. I just laughed. Yeah. I'm that awesome. "Oh my god! I cannot believe that we're finally here! Like, who would've guessed? ME? A SENIOR! Oh my gosh, I will rule this school with an even more positive attitude! I will get each and every one of the students to shout 'GO FOXES! YAY!"

Ino here is one of my closest friends. I've known her since I moved here. She's usually hyper and on the up-go, and way too enthusiastic about everything. But she's the captain of the cheerleading squad. She's supposed to be preppy and hyper. But when things get serious, you can count on her. She also has this weird best friend thing going on with Haruno Sakura, her best friend and her rival. (More on her later.)

And being the captain, she's one of the most popular girls in school. But so is Natsumi, and they're like, second cousins or something, so they're cool. But they don't really look alike. Ino's shorter, being 5'6 and Natsumi 5'10, and Ino's hair is blond and straight opposed to Natsumi's copper colored curls, and Ino is more girly.

Ino continued to chocking Natsumi and babbling when Uchiha Sasuke came, our little silent hero. Or Natsumi's silent little hero. He tapped Ino on the shoulder, and as soon as she saw him, she screamed and jumped him, but only for a few seconds. "Hi Sasuke-chan." Ino grinned and batted her eyes.

Sasuke looked at her. "Please don't call me that."

"Ok! I have to go find Sakura! Bye you guys! Sasuke-sama!" Ino ran off.

Natsumi choked out a laughed. "I bow down to you Sasuke-_sama._"

And to add to that, I dramatically went down on my knees and bowed to him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Sasuke's actually pretty hot. I don't know if he knows it or not because he doesn't seem to notice the attention he receives from girls. I myself am somewhat attracted to him, even though I like some other guy.

Sasuke's the cool and silent type, which turns girls on. He doesn't talk much, and he makes cold gestures like glaring and rolling his eyes at you, but that apparently is his way of showing compassion. According to Natsumi, who is Sasuke's best girl friend. And he doesn't like most people. Only Natsumi, Uzumaki Naruto (I think?), Huyga Neji, me (well, he doesn't really hate me. And he talks to me…), and some other people.

Oh, and this is the guy who Karin likes, but probably likes Natsumi. Just keep reading and you'll understand. I'll even emphasize the parts for you.

He has jet black hair that sticks up at the back, and jet black eyes. He's tall at 6'2, and he has that wiry muscular body that is gorgeous. He wears loose clothing, and puma shoes.

As Natsumi caught her breath, I studied him. I haven't really seem him that much this summer, because I was so busy going to China and coming back. Natsumi came with me most of the time. He looked tanner, taller. His clothes fit him perfectly. Unlike the girls', the boys' uniform was thinner. They didn't have a vest. Just a jacket and an under shirt. Sometimes they didn't wear the jacket at all. They wore pants, either shorts or longer ones. Lucky bastards. I envy them.

He saw me looking, and he nodded. I nodded back. I was never the shy scared girl. If people saw me staring, I wouldn't look away. Why bother? So I kept staring, and nodded to them.

Natsumi finally regained her breathing, and smiled brightly to Sasuke. "Hey Uchiha. How was your summer?"

He never talked when Natsumi wasn't around. Like, a few times he would be waiting for her, and I would wait with him. We never talked. I tried, but he didn't answer with long answers. So we sat there. And when Natsumi came, all of us talked like old pals. This is one sign that he likes her.

"Boring. I hope your guys' was better."

"It was not boring at the least, right Tenten?" Natsumi laughed.

"Oh yeah." I laughed too. "There were always the crowds at the airports, and we somehow manage to lose at least one luggage each time."

Sasuke laughed too. Another sign. He laughs and talks and smiles with Natsumi around. Never with anyone else. "That sucks. I've never felt the humiliation of losing something at the airport."

"'cause you never had to." Natsumi grinned. "All the attendants personally checked that your stuff was there."

"Let me guess, they were girls." I wagged my eyebrows at Sasuke. "Ladies' man much?"

"Ha-ha. Very funny. And like you guys aren't guy magnets?"

"We're not." I said. "At least, I'm not."

"Oh shush Tenten." Natsumi shoved me lightly. "You're pretty hot. Ask Neji." Her turn to wag her eyebrows as I blushed. Sasuke chuckled too. They both knew that I like Neji. I mean, he's so cute. And one of my closest guy friends. He's always there for me. Can I help it if I fall for him? I mean, he's also one of the hottest guys here. He has long black hair tied loosely together and pale lavender eyes to die for, and he has a kind and old fashion thing about him.

"Neji hates me." I mumbled. That's probably true. Recently, I've been trying to ask him out. The most recent one was last week, when I was blushing and stuttering like crazy and accidently knocked over a pile of shoes and dropped my water on him. Smooth Tenten. Smooth.

"No he doesn't." Sasuke shrugged. "He told me that last week was fun."

I blushed even more as Natsumi laughed. Dang it.

"Sure." I muttered, trying to stop blushing. "Amazing."

"I'm still wondering how you did that." Natsumi winked.

"I'm a klutz." I said, miserable.

"You're a pretty hot klutz. If you weren't, then Neji would've probably thought that you were crazy." Sasuke said.

I blushed madly. I punched him. "Shut up!"

He laughed. He never winced from getting punched. Probably from all those damn fist fights with Naruto. Idiots. Just when I wanted to inflict some pain on him.

"Alright, we'll stop. For now." Natsumi grinned.

I grinned back. "Thank you."

Sasuke shrugged.

"Hi Sasuke." A girl's voice rang out behind them. They stopped and turned around to see Satou Karin, Natsumi's younger sister. She wore her jacket, with nothing under, with a few buttons on the top unbuttoned. I could tell that she tugged her skirt higher up, so you saw more than you needed. I tried my best not to throw up. I wish I did.

"Honorifics Karin." Natsumi reminded her. She ignored her.

He just looked at her. Like me, he hates her. Been messing with his girl too long, eh? I mentally laughed, and physically smiled. Ah, he would've killed me for that.

"How are you?" she asked. Her voice reminded me of honey. Too think, and too sweet.

"Hm." He grunted.

I looked at Natsumi. She was frowning at Karin. I think that she thinks that Karin being a year younger is too naïve and can easily be corrupted. I think that Karin's trying to get corrupted.

"Well, if you get lonely, give me a call, ok?" Karin pouted her lips while she talked. How did she do that?

"Mm." Sasuke sighed, annoyed.

Natsumi stepped forward, and quickly buttoned up her sister's jacket and pulled her skirt down lower.

"What the hell are you doing?" Karin fumed.

"She's trying to give you the gift of modesty." I chimed in.

"Don't dress like that again, you hear?" Natsumi said in a low, dangerous voice.

"Whatever. You're not the boss of me." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm your big sister." Natsumi said.

"I have Mom."

"_Mom's_ a piece of work. That's a sucky thing to use against me."

"She cares more about me that you and you're jealous. I guess it's because that you're a slut. Hurts, doesn't it? Having someone to hate you."

I wanted to punch her. That bitch.

"I don't hate her." Sasuke said.

We looked at him. We kind of forgot that he was still there. Whoops.

"I don't either!" Karin gushed.

"Sounded like you did."

Karin bit her lip, trying to look innocent.

"Look," Sasuke sighed and put his hand to his head. "I need to talk to Natsumi and Tenten alone, thanks."

We stared at him. Huh. First time for everything right? He just dissed Karin. _Sasuke, you have just earned my permanent respect._ I thought.

Karin just stood there. "Go away." Sasuke said.

She nodded so much I thought her head was going to fall off, and then she ran off.

"Don't talk to her like that Sasuke." Natsumi said crossly.

His face didn't show any emotion. Which meant he was fuming. "Alright." He almost spat out.

Natsumi's own anger seemed to drain out. "I'm sorry. I'm still an idiot, right?" Natsumi laughed.

"Yes. You are." I said crossly. "I've been trying to tell you for 3 years that she's a bitch, and you have to give her a good slap across the face. Teach her some damn manners!"

Natsumi rolled her eyes. "Enough. Can we just go now?"

I glared. Then gave up. Natsumi is more stubborn than she lets on. "Fine."

We started our walk again in dead silence, but Natsumi picked us up, and we flowed on. I always knew she was special, and that she could become a huge person. But she doesn't let herself because she blames herself for her mother's crappy job as a mother, her father leaving, and her sister being a slut. And being her best friend, I can't help but think that sometimes, I'm holding her back too. _Great. _I thought sarcastically. _Natsumi's blaming-herself thing is rubbing off on me too._

I looked at her. She seems happy, but I can see just a faint glimmer of sadness in there. It makes me sad. It could be me. _I'm sorry Natsumi._ I thought. _I'll make it up to you. I'll make you see that I am worth being your friend, and I'll make you the happiest person alive._


	2. Chapter 2

**alright, sorry for taking so long! i just kinda forgot then randomly remembered. i hope you guys like this! plz R&R**

I sat in my first block class, bored as hell. I couldn't help but check the giant clock that huge on the wall, right above the door. Whoever put it there must've done that on purpose. By placing the slow moving clock above the door, they have tempted us students with the slim hope for freedom in this jail people call school.

I looked at the teacher, Gekko Hayate, and thought to myself, "_He kind of looks like he's dying… maybe I should call for an ambulance?_" I couldn't help it. The image of the most innocent looking teacher being strapped down on a stretcher and towed away to the hospital was too funny. I started to giggle as I daydreamed away.

Suddenly a sharp pain erupted on my left upper arm. I grabbed the soon-to-be bruised area, as if my touch would make the pain go away, and glared at the person to my left. Natsumi glared back.

"What the hell was that for?" I almost hissed at her.

"You said it out loud, _baka._" Natsumi hissed back.

I glanced around the room and saw the entire class looking at me. I snuck a look at the teacher. He was coughing into his fist, his hard unwavering look directed at me. I cleared my throat and grabbed my textbook. "_Moushiwake gozaimasen_ Hayate-sensei." I mumbled. "Forgive me."

He coughed again. "It's alright Tenten. It is only the first day of school. I'll let it pass."

"_Arigatō_ sensei."

He continued the lesson in a fitting cough. I silently sighed in relief. Thank goodness he's a nice teacher. Now if it were someone like Anko-sensei, or Ibiki-sensei, I would've died. Or Gai-sensei… I would've died with humiliation with him and his touchy-feely crybaby tactics. I shuddered. Unfortunately I once had the honor of his "punishment". He whacked me on the shoulder so hard that I almost went flying, and then he teared up and started bawling and hugged me so tightly that I couldn't breathe. His class was the only class that I was well behaved in.

When the bell rang an eternity later, I almost ran out of the classroom. "That. Was. Horrible." I grumbled. Natsumi gave me a small laugh. "You said you were thinking about calling an ambulance for him. Good thing it wasn't Gai-sensei."

I smiled. Of course she would be thinking the exact same thing I was thinking. She's my best friend.

The school is small, so the teachers get to know each of the student's name and relationships with each other. Naturally they had caught on our close bond, and so Natsumi and I have every class together. We just had history. On the way to our next class (which thankfully, was gym.) about ten _kohais_ had bowed to us. I felt so loved. Until Karin walked by.

As she passed us, I switched sides with Natsumi so that Karin would pass me. As she walked by she said "Bitch."

I gritted my teeth, and gave her a cold smile. "Whore."

"Tenten." Natsumi said in a deathly cold voice. I gave her a smile. She switched her glare to Karin. "Be respectful Karin."

"Wouldn't think of it Natsumi." Karin fired back.

Some freshmen gasped when Karin said Natsumi's name without an honorific. In Japan, if you talk to someone and use their name without an honorific, it can either mean they're close enough to not use it, or great disrespect. And I'm pretty sure with Natsumi's cold voice and Karin's glare people assumed they weren't friends. Only the juniors and seniors knew they were sisters.

Natsumi took a deep breath. I glanced at her. "Your fine with that?" I asked, astonished. For three years, I couldn't get over the fact that Natsumi was so loose when it came to Karin.

"I'm totally fine." She grinned.

Irritation pulled my strings a bit. "You should give her a good smack, right across the head. Maybe then her brain might fall into a normal position."

"Leave it Tenten. Please."

I sighed. Natsumi was stubborn. Nothing could make her move. So I let it go.

We reached the gymnasium and saw some pretty familiar faces. "Lee! Naruto! Ino! Choji! Kiba! Gaara! Sasuke!" I called.

Maybe this is a good time to explain some things. Natsumi, Sasuke, Ino, me, we're part of this huge group of pretty good friends since we were little. I'm the newcomer, but I fit in pretty well. The group is made up of sixteen people; Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Natsumi, me, Rock Lee, Neji, Hyuga Hinata (Neji's cousin), Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji, Gaara, Temari, and Kunkuro.

It's a long chain formed from other little chains. First it was Natsumi and Sasuke, friends since birth. Then Naruto came into their friendship when they were four. Sakura and Ino, Shikamaru and Choji were already best friends when they met Natsumi at the age of five. Then Lee, Shino and Kiba came along when we were six. Hinata came not long after with Neji when we were eight. Gaara, Temari and Kunkuro moved from Suna five years ago (at the age of twelve), and had quickly joined into this group. Then I came along. (When we were fourteen.)

I'm telling you, we grew up together. Since junior high, at the latest.

We ran over and gave everyone hugs. We babbled to one another, so our conversations overlapped, but we still understood everything that was said, and we laughed.

I saw some other fellow classmates that I recognized. Or well... Vaguely recognized. I have horrible memory. If I didn't see my friends every day, I swear I would forget their names. I could die from that, especially from Ino! She's the drama queen of the group, and there are times when I just can't stand her and her babbling, but at the end, I know I love her, even though I want to wring her neck at times.

I waved and called hello to them, and they waved back. Then Ino came to me. "Do you see Sasuke?" Ino whispered.

I looked for him and saw him talking with Natsumi. "Yeah, what about him?" I whispered back.

"He looks fiiine in that uniform." Ino sighed with longing. I rolled my eyes as she went into la-la land. Did I forget to mention? Ino and Sakura have this huge crush on Sasuke. Because of this crush, they insult each other and give everyone headaches afterwards.

"Forget it Ino." I said. "Seriously, just forget it."

She stared at me with horror in her big blue eyes. _Uh-oh._ I thought as I tried to cover my mistake. "I mean, if you do it so obviously, he'll notice and he won't come near you! You gotta act cooler around him, give him some space, and he might fall for you!"

Ino brightened up instantly. "Really? Ok! Thanks Tenten!" she gave me a suffocating bear hug and went to Choji to tell him the good news. I sighed with relief. I dodged one hell of a disaster there. If I hadn't said what I said, and then she would go on an 80/hr talking marathon about how Sasuke should love her for who she is and he shouldn't love Sakura and blah blah blah. I might not have controlled myself and actually wring her neck.

"Alright, you know the drill people! Get changed and get back out here within five minutes!" Mitarashi Anko sensei said in her drill instructor voice and blew her whistle. I like Anko sensei. She's a no nonsense type of person, getting right to the important stuff. Change, sweat, shower, and done. Much better than Gai-sensei. I mentally shuddered as we headed to the locker rooms.

Luckily I knew most of the girls there and we all had a towel wiping fight. You thought guys did that? Girls do it too, and we don't hold back. I mean, most of the gym class is made up of hardcore athletes. From cheerleaders (Ino) to swimmers to track to the type of athletes that play every sport imaginable (Natsumi and I).

When we finished changing we all limped out of the locker room and plopped down onto the bleachers when it felt like our legs would give out. I tell you, never go into a towel whipping fight with a cheerleader. She's dodge everything you throw and whip you twice as hard as you would've hit her.

Natsumi laughed at me because my legs were the reddest. It seemed like everyone was aiming at me or something. What did I do to deserve that? I sighed and slapped her on the shoulder. "Oh, shut up." I didn't really know what to add, so I just stuck out my tongue at her. She laughed again and flicked my legs. I bit my lip from screaming in pain. I was about to tackle her when Anko sensei blew her whistle again.

"Nice to see you guys again. I recognize some familiar faces, and a few new ones. Let me introduce myself. My name is Mitarashi Anko. I will be your instructor for the year. Better get used to me, because I'm strict, and I come down hard. Punishments will be passed out if you break one of these rules. 1) Always change your clothing before and after gym class. I don't want you to smell like a crap storm into your next class and get me fired. 2) Don't talk when I talk, or else. Enough said. And 3) Participate! I don't have time for those sissies that always give me the '_I'm not feeling well_'. I don't care. If you're sick stay home you idiots. You got me?"

The students that had Anko sensei before knows that she's actually fun and she only says this at the beginning of the year to scare kids. We hooted and whistled, while the newer kids had an expression that said "_are you stupid? She's butcher you!"_

"Alright, since it's the first day of school, we'll combine the boys and the girls. We'll go to the fitness center. Follow me chickadees."

"I hate how she calls us chickadees." I grumbled. Natsumi exaggeratedly rolled her eyes at me and said "get used to it panda." I blew a raspberry at her as Ino came to us and rambled about how she can't wait to see Sasuke all sweaty from working out so much. I felt like gagging.

Once we reached there, and Natsumi made a beeline to the weights. Sasuke and Gaara were right behind us. Ino was on the treadmill while carefully examining Sasuke as he picked some weights and started to exercise. Ino almost fainted with happiness. As I looked around the room I saw that almost every girl minus me, Natsumi and Anko sensei were fanning themselves as they watched Sasuke. And I also noticed Sasuke was eyeing Natsumi as she was doing crunches and pushups with Gaara. I'm not sure if he was trying to get her to look at him, or he was watching her as the girls were watching him.

I went into daydream land as I lifted weights. I imagined Neji had gym with us, and he was where Sasuke is, and he was doing the same thing. My face turned beet red as I shook my head to get rid of the image of Neji sweating through a tight white shirt. Oh god.

"What's the matter?" Sasuke asked me. I looked at him in surprise. Was he actually caring for someone besides Natsumi? This thought was quickly gone as soon as his next question passed through his lips. "Fantasizing of Neji?"

I glared at him. "You better shut up Uchiha." I threatened him.

He rolled his eyes as he gave me a quirky smirk. "Or else what?"

"Or else I'll scream to the world that you're in love with-" I couldn't finish my threat as Sasuke cut me off. "FINE. I'm sorry." I gave him a cocky grin as I focused on the weights again.

Natsumi and Gaara had finished their little workout and had moved onto the weights. Well, Natsumi was working on weights, Gaara was onto the chin-ups.

"Hey," Natsumi came over to us. "What were you guys talking about?"

Sasuke and I looked at her with a mixture of horror and bewilderment. Oh but we had a different type of horror. Sasuke's horror was that Natsumi might actually find out that he's crazy in love with her. My horror was to the fact that if Natsumi found out and that it was my fault, Sasuke would seriously kill me. I want to live dammit!

"We were talking about what kind of workout we were going to do next." I lied.

Natsumi cocked her head to the side. "What? But what you guys were arguing about didn't look like it was about that."

"Looked? So you didn't hear what we were saying?" Sasuke asked.

"No, I couldn't hear you, but-" she got cut off as I interrupted her. "Then duh! How are you supposed to really understand that we weren't talking about the next method of exercise! It's hard to talk with motion when we're lifting weights!"

She gave me this look that made me immediately guilty. I hated lying to her, but if I didn't, then Sasuke might tell her cuz he can't keep stuff from her. But how he kept the crush away from her was a mystery. And at the same time how she didn't know was just beyond me.

Finally Natsumi sighed. "Fine. But I'll find out sooner or later." She gave us both a look. "What are we going to do next then?"

Sasuke and I both let out a tiny sigh of relief. "Well, I wanted to work on lower body strength..."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Holy shit that was close." I said as I recalled the close disaster that we avoided back in the fitness center. Sasuke glared at me. We were the first to finish changing and were waiting for the rest of our friends to finish. Lunch was next and we all knew we had to be there early to get the good spot. "If it weren't for your teasing then we wouldn't have to lie to her." He shot back.

I stared at him. "You started it! Don't you dare blame me!"

"Fine. I'm sorry, I won't do it again. It's just... You can't tell her. I know that you guys are best friends, but Natsumi and I are best friends too. It's hard to tell her that I like her and not make it awkward."

"I understand that it's hard, and I'm sorry for making it harder on you."

"Thanks."

This is one of the rare moments that Sasuke and I talk to each other without Natsumi with us to help the conversation flowing. We both can actually relate when it comes to this complicated love.

"Alright, I finished second! Woo-hoo! I think I deserve a prize!" Choji came up to us. I laughed. "You finished quickly because it's lunch next."

"You got it! I wonder what they have on the menu…" Choji started to ponder about this when Ino and Natsumi emerged. "No way. You were _not_ just talking about food, were you?" Ino exclaimed.

"No. we were talking about how great your hair is." I said sarcastically.

"Really?" She grinned.

"No. we were talking about food."

"Aw, come on, Ino its ok to talk about food." Natsumi laughed.

"Food? We're talking about food? Great! I'm starving!" Kiba and Gaara walked up to us.

"Dude, so am I! What do you think they're going to serve?" Choji and Kiba started to debate on the menu as the rest of us carried on.

"Anyways, what do you have next Sasuke-kun?" Ino gave him a little smile. I think she was thinking of what I told her before about backing off because she didn't jump him, and she didn't give him a huge grin and none stop questions.

"I have math and science with Natsumi." Sasuke answered.

"Oh." Ino's mouth twitched, like she was fighting the urge to pout. "I have science and history after lunch."

"Who do you have history with?" I asked

"Some person named Hayate."

Natsumi coughed back a laugh. I glared at her. Ino caught this. "What happened?" she asked.

Natsumi couldn't hold it in anymore. She burst out laughing. "You will _not_ believe this! I don't know why Tenten was thinking this, but randomly she blurted out '_he looks sickly. I wonder if I should call the ambulance_.'!"

I punched her on the arm. "Don't tell her that! Actually, don't tell ANYONE that!"

Natsumi laughed as she held her already bruising arm. "I'm sorry! It was too golden to not tell." As I continued to glare at her, she said "What? You would do the same too Tenten!"

With that, I knew I had to admit to defeat. "Fine. But I'm not sorry for punching you." But the murderous look that Sasuke was giving me almost made me rethink about hitting Natsumi again. _Almost._

The bell rang for lunch, and the super hungry Choji and Kiba made a mad dash to their lockers to shove their stuff into and towards the cafeteria. I was hungry too, so I jogged with Natsumi and Sasuke. Ino ran off to find Sakura and Gaara went to find his siblings.

As soon as we put our stuff away, we started for the cafeteria. On the way I noticed several people staring at us. I mean, having some pretty hot friends by your side would naturally always draw some attention, but it was annoying how it felt like someone was staring at our way.

We made a beeline to our spot. Our spot was actually just a bench under a tree in the courtyard. But it's very beautiful and peaceful. We had unofficially staked that spot as ours with the help of our intimidatingly hot and popular friends. (i.e. Natsumi, Sasuke, Neji, Ino) but we made sure that at least one of us would be there just in case someone tried to take it away from us. Fortunately, Neji, Hinata, Lee and Shino were already there. Unfortunately, so was Karin. And Karin was arguing with Lee.

I snuck a glance at Natsumi, wondering if she saw her sister there. Natsumi really had no expression on her face. Like, you know that weird calmness that appears just before a huge storm hits? Yeah… to say that I'm terrified is the least descriptive word to describe what I'm feeling now. When I looked at Sasuke, he caught my eye and rolled his. I think that meant something like "_can we just chuck that girl out of a window or something?"_ and if he was thinking that, I wish that too.

"Hey!" I spun around to see Sakura and Ino come up to us. "Ooh… I'm feelin' something. What's the matter?" Sakura lowered her voice. Even the loud Ino was quiet. I turned my head to glance at Natsumi. She was just standing there. I can honestly say I've never been more terrified about something that's about to explode.

"Look at the courtyard." I said

They looked, and at the same time they froze into place, their eyes slowly widening until it was the size of a dinner plate. "Aw shit." Ino said. "Greatly phrased." I complimented her.

We all looked at Natsumi. Even Sasuke was looking at her. But we were looking at her with unease; he was looking at her with concern. I think I was the only one to notice this.

Natsumi drew in a deep breath. "C'mon." she said.

We were so scared that we obeyed her without question. We walked into the courtyard. As we passed through the doors to the outside world I heard what Lee and Karin were saying.

"It's not like you have any right to obtain this spot to yourselves you know." Karin scowled.

"Well we were here first, so just... GO AWAY." Lee's eyebrow twitched with anger. I've never heard him talk like that. He must be super angry. But at the same time Karin is pissed too… take that bitch!

"Karin, what's going on here?" Natsumi's voice rang out. Lee and Karin stopped bickering and looked at Natsumi. Lee looked relieved, but Karin looked even more pissed. "What's it to you?" Karin snapped.

"What that tone missy, or I'll cut you." I giggled to myself. "I've always wanted to say that." I grinned.

Natsumi ignored that. "Karin, you know very well that my friends and I eat here every day at lunch. What on earth are you doing? Are you purposefully trying to provoke us?"

"Do you think I have the time to bother with you?" Karin sneered. "My friends and I like this spot, so we want to eat here."

"You? Friends? Eat? There is so much in that sentence that just bewilders me." Sakura said.

"What Billboard Brow? I was too distracted by that monstrous forehead of yours to hear what you said." Karin rolled her eyes. Sakura glared at her. "You little bitch! I'll snap you like a twig!" Sakura made a leap at her, but Ino held her. "Don't Sakura! You'll get bitch germs on you!" Ino exclaimed.

"Karin, be respectful." Natsumi forcefully said.

"_Be respectful_" Karin mocked her. I wanted to punch her for that. And when I looked at Sasuke, I knew that he was thinking the same thing.

Actually, now that I look, I actually realize that there are people standing behind Karin. Probably a group of freshmen sluts. But they didn't have the courage that Karin had. They looked scared and fascinated at the same time.

"Satou Karin you better stop this behavior right now or else." Natsumi said in a low tone.

"Or what?" Karin smirked.

"Or else I'll have to cut in." Sasuke interjected. From the look of Karin's face, I think she was too busy bashing people that she didn't see Sasuke. "Sasuke-kun!" Karin's voice suddenly turned sweet. "How are you today? I'm sorry for my behavior; I'm not normally like this. It's just, you know, a time for me" Sasuke interrupted her, anger woven into his features. "Yeah, a time for change right? Maybe you should stop being a bitch and be nice to Natsumi."

It was silent. I think it was because Sasuke said more than five words, and he bashed someone. Karin looked like someone slapped her. I wish I was the one who did it.

I looked at Natsumi to see if she would yell at Sasuke and try to comfort Karin, but she didn't do either. Instead, she was just standing there, frowning. Finally she moved. "Go Karin." She said quietly.

Karin glared at her with so much hate I felt the need to back away. "I hate you. I _hate_ you. I'm going to tell mom and you won't be able to come back home."

Finally Natsumi snapped. "Home? Mom? Do you think I care? I hate both of those things."

Karin glared. "You should care! It's all you have!"

"I have friends. The only reason I didn't burn that piece of trash is because you came along. If you weren't born I would've destroyed that house."

"What the hell are you saying?"

"I saying that I can't believe you're so ungrateful! You know what our mom is like, and I'm surprised that you're trying to win an argument with her as backup. You don't want me back there? Fine. I'm happy with that. I'd rather die than go back to that hell." Natsumi grinded her teeth together in anger.

Everyone except for Sasuke, Karin and me had a mask of confusion on. Natsumi told me what life at her place is like; many times she ran away at night and stayed at my place. I put my arm around her and gave her a squeeze.

Karin was shocked. Her mouth kept opening and closing, unable to find words. Finally she said "Don't you ever come around home again." And she and her posse left.

As soon as they left Natsumi sank. She wrapped her arms around my and let her silent tears fall. Natsumi tries too hard to help people that she forgets to help herself. I stroked her hair as everyone quietly got food and offered their silence. That helped. Sasuke met my eyes, and I knew that he would handle this situation better than me. I only had witty and sarcastic remarks, that wouldn't help here. So Sasuke lead Natsumi to the corner of the courtyard. I look over and saw that Sasuke was talking to Natsumi, and she was nodding to what he was saying.

"Hey Tenten."

I turned around and saw Neji, standing there, looking a bit awkward. I suddenly remembered about the incident where I did something incredibly embarrassing. "H-Hi, watsup?" I stammered. I cursed myself for being tongue-tied.

He scratched his head. "Well, I haven't seen you since we talked that one time during summer. And I was hoping we could catch up now, but it's a little awkward with that thing that just happened…" my blush deepened. "I want to catch up too! And I'm sure that Natsumi will bounce back." I nodded.

Neji gave me a small smile. "So, how was your summer?"

"It was long, and at times crazy." I smiled nervously. What is wrong with me? "How was yours?"

He smiled. "This is really awkward."

"I'm sorry!"

"Oh! Don't apologize! I blame the fight that just happened…"

"Oh, that too… it's just... um… "

Neji stared at me. My face turned red. "Um… it's just that… I missed you."

As soon as that was out of my mouth, I wanted to crawl into a hole. _Why did I say that? What the hell is wrong with me?_

Neji studied my red face. He spoke so softly that I almost missed it. Then Lee called Neji over, and I was left there standing in shock.

"_I missed you too."_


End file.
